


Stand Where I Stood

by PlayingChello



Category: Devil May Cry
Genre: Implied/Referenced Cheating, M/M, Pining, Unrequited Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-19
Updated: 2016-04-19
Packaged: 2018-06-03 06:00:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,667
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6599524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PlayingChello/pseuds/PlayingChello
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Dante is so very painfully in love with his married best friend.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Stand Where I Stood

**Author's Note:**

  * For [eeeeeeeeeerenjaegar](https://archiveofourown.org/users/eeeeeeeeeerenjaegar/gifts).



> Happy Birthday to my darling Harley!! They wanted something in the asshole husband au ([Why Did I?](http://archiveofourown.org/works/5403878)) so I delivered with this! I hope it satisfies.
> 
> Title from Missy Higgin's Where I Stood

_“Hey, Nero.”_

_The young man glances to look over at Dante, “Hmm?”_

_Dante looks at the ground, uncharacteristically nervous. “I’ve, uh, I’ve got something for you.”_

_This time Nero actually faces him, “What?”_

_Instead of speaking again, Dante holds out his hand, clenched around the small gift. When Nero tentatively holds his open palm beneath it, Dante opens his hand and lets the ring fall._

_It’s simple, just a cheap little ring. But it’s special. The outer section spins freely. There’s a simple pattern of lines running around it, Dante just thought it was kinda pretty._

_“Dante…”_

_“It’s not really anything, just… figured it could be something to help you with the anxiety thing.”_

_Nero’s pretty blue eyes look up at him slightly watery and so bright, “This is… it’s perfect. Thank you.”_

_And Dante finds he falls a little bit more in like with his best friend._

\--

Dante’s mind comes back from his wandering when a waitress comes to take his and Nero’s order. On instinct, Dante flashes his best flirty smile and goes to comment on the woman’s pretty red hair. But then his peripheral catches Nero spinning that ring and he can almost smell him and his whole face falls.

No one compares to Nero.

Not even the pretty little young waitress practically throwing herself at them for a compliment and flirting without abandon. Dante averts his eyes from her, focusing on the menu instead, while they order. When they finish and the waitress finally leaves them in peace (although a bit huffy) Nero looks at him with a raised eyebrow, “She’s pretty.”

Dante mimics the expression, “Not pretty enough, your face isn’t that red.”

Nero’s face deepens to a fair shade of pink, “Shut up.” He shakes his head to attempt to dispel the blush, “Since when do you judge a person’s attractiveness on my reaction?”

_Since always._

“I don’t. But if you aren’t blushing like crazy at a woman blatantly flirting with you, then she’s clearly not pretty enough.” He really just has no interest in anyone anymore. No one other than his _married_ best friend. Dante has to physically stop himself from sneering at the flashy ring on Nero’s left ring finger.

Nero opens his mouth, then stops and looks down before muttering, “Never seemed to stop you before.”

And that. That hurts. It hurts right down to his very soul. It mostly hurts because it’s _true_. Especially before Dante realised how incredible Nero is. He’s always been… promiscuous. To a fault. But lately he’s just completely uninterested in anyone. Well, anyone _available_ at least. And he’s not one to encourage cheating. And he’s too much of a coward to tell Nero how he feels anyway, as evidenced by years of sitting back while watching Nero get married to the worst scum of the history of the earth.

But he ignores the comment, taking a drink from his glass of whiskey to avoid the awkwardness. The alcohol burns just slightly, just enough to give him a boost of strength. Enough to slightly blur the lines between best friend and a little more.

Dante pokes his foot forward until he kicks at Nero’s under the table. The action gets the younger’s attention and he looks up at Dante in something between confusion and thinly veiled mock frustration. But the sound of Nero’s ring spinning stops Dante from teasing as he’d planned. “Hey, you’re spinning that a lot. You ok?”

Nero ducks his head and looks down at his hand, stopping himself from spinning the ring. “I’m fine.”

“Nero…”

A sigh, “There’s just a lot of people in here.”

Dante glances around. There aren’t _that_ many people. He chose this place because he knows it doesn’t get wildly crowded. He’s very familiar with Nero’s crowd anxiety and he makes every effort to minimise it as much as possible. So he _knows_ there’s something else bugging him. But he won’t press. At least not now, not while they’re so public.

“Do you want to leave?”

Nero shakes his head, “No, let’s eat.”

Dante gives him a look, but gives in. He’ll get it out of him when he’s ready to talk about it. He always does.

Their food comes not much later (with a different waitress this time) and they relax into their normal selves. Teasing and joking. Dante trying his damnedest not to look at Nero _too_ fondly. But it’s _hard_. Nero’s so goddamn _beautiful_. Everything he does is beautiful. When he smiles, when he devours his food so fast you’d think he’s starving, when he leans over to steal off of Dante’s plate. Even when his speech starts getting a little slurred when he steals a few sips of Dante’s drink. It’s all adorable and it makes Dante want to lean over and just kiss him. Grab his hand and run his thumb over his knuckles. He wants to be able to show the entire restaurant, the entire world, how much Nero means to him. He wants to be the one that put that ring on Nero’s finger glinting every time he lifts his glass.

But he can’t.

And he’s not.

No, Nero has someone else to go home to. Someone else gets the privilege to kiss him, hold him, see him at his most vulnerable. Someone else to love him.

However much Dante hates the man. And however awful the man is to Nero. Dante can only hate on him so much. Because Nero seems so genuinely happy. At least most of the time. And he’s never much listened when Dante’s tried to tell him how bad the man is for him. That’s one of the best and worst things about Nero: he’s convinced he can take care of himself, that he doesn’t need help.

But it’s not like Dante thinks Nero is weak by any stretch. Far from. Nero is one of the strongest people Dante knows. Constantly facing shit from people around him and coming up even better. He’s an incredible human being. And so _caring_. He cares about _everyone_.

He’s perfect and it’s always the only thing Dante can think about when he’s with him. Even when he tries not to, that too fond smile still sneaks onto his lips. He’s so dreadfully, _painfully_ in love with his best friend. His _married_ best friend.

After they finish dinner, they decide to walk around the dusk draped city a bit before Dante takes Nero back to his husband. “Dante?” Nero’s quiet voice echoes in Dante’s head, tearing up his thoughts until he’s completely focused on the younger man.

“Mmm?” he hums in question, glancing over at Nero. He’s got that ring going again.

“I… I think he might be cheating on me.”

Probably. That’s the first thing Dante wants to say. Followed by, ‘he’s no good for you, Nero.’ And a kiss for good measure. God, he bets Nero’s lips taste so sweet. But with the way Nero folds in on himself and looks so damn _hurt_ , it’s no time for Dante to be the petty unrequited lover, but rather the supportive best friend. Even if it means lying.

“I’m sure he’s not, Nero. Aren’t you always telling me how much he loves you? If he loves you half as much as you say, he wouldn’t dare cheat on you. Not when he’s got someone as incredible as you waiting at home for him.” It hurts to say, because he’d stake money that the bastard has his dick balls deep in someone else right now. And he can’t imagine he appreciates Nero even a fraction of what he deserves. But it’s what Nero needs to hear.

Nero, who’s now blushing a pretty pink at being paid a compliment. “I’m not… ‘M not that great.”

Dante can’t hold himself back on this one, “You _are_ , Nero. You’re incredible and he is the _luckiest_ man to get to call you his husband.” Still hurts, but at least this time every word is true.

His little pep talk earns an odd look from Nero, just for a moment. But then it’s gone and he’s looking down at his feet, “Thanks.”

“It’s true, Nero. You should know how great you are.”

And then Nero does something entirely unexpected. He bumps against Dante’s side as they walk and speaks, “You know, you’re a good friend, Dante. And you’d be a good husband. Whoever you marry will be lucky to have you.”

It hurts and it almost makes Dante stop short. But somehow he gets away with only a small intake of breath. “I don’t think I’m much of the settling down type.” _Unless it could be with you._ He’s the only one.

Nero laughs, “I guess that’s true. But you would be good for it. You always know what to say.”

The conversation after that veers to more comfortable territory. Small talk and teasing as they make their way back to Dante’s car. On the drive back to Nero’s house, he falls asleep curled up in the passenger seat. Dante briefly considers just driving away, finding somewhere far away from their lives here and running away together. He wants so badly to reach over and pet his hair, rest a hand on his thigh. But he doesn’t get that privilege.

He does have to gently shake him back awake when they arrive. Nero grins sleepily when he looks at Dante, but his face falls a bit as he looks around and sees where they are. “We’re here…”

Dante nods sadly, “We’re here. Thanks for coming out with me.” The way Nero’s face looks at he looks almost forlorn out the window squeezes tight on Dante’s heart.

Nero nods, still fending off sleep. “See you tomorrow?”

“Yeah…” Dante trails off as Nero gets out of the car. The last thing Dante notices before the car door closes is the sound of Nero’s ring spinning furiously. He watches him carefully as he walks up to his door and disappears inside.

“I love you so much, Nero.”


End file.
